I was interested seeing Dune since I heard about the latest film adaptation, but a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the mostly negative reviews on this site caused me to forgo seeing it in theaters. Now, having rented the movie on YouTube, I found myself enjoying it more than I expected.
The film covers the first two thirds of the first Dune novel, stopping just after Paul wins his duel with Jamis and joins the Fremen(spoiler tags for those who haven't read the 50+ year old book). Initially, I was somewhat disappointed that the film was broken into parts, which often is little more than a ploy to milk multiple films out of a single book, but after seeing it, I realized that it would be difficult to adapt the book in a single film.
The movie generally adapts Dune well, as the creators realize that exposition must often be delivered differently in a movie than in a book, since without a narrator to explain things, Show, Don't Tell is a better tool for exposition. As someone who read the original Dune roughly 20 years ago, and found it a bit hard to follow at times, I found that the movie does a good job of explaining things to the viewers while neither being too obtuse nor overwhelming the viewer with information.
The characters are generally utilized well and the actors playing them give great performances. A few of them, such as Paul's eventual Love Interest Chani and Baron Harkonnen, don't get much screentime, albeit largely due to where the cutoff point is- Paul only just meets Chani at the end of the movie. One thing I found strange was Liet Kynes' Gender Flip, but the change, like many of the other small tweaks to character personalities, generally worked well in the context of the movie. For example, Jessica's more emotional reaction to Paul being subjected to the gom jabbar test- in which he must endure excruciating pain or die- helps humanize her.
The film benefits from breathtaking visual effects and set design, from the future technology bases to the planet of Arrakis. The sandworms, which are some of the most iconic creatures of the series, are portrayed quite well, and the Atreides' first encounter with one is a memorable and terrifying experience.
In short, I recommend seeing the movie to anyone who liked the books or science fiction fans in general. I personally enjoyed Dune, and look forward to seeing the second part, as well as any other Dune books Denis Villeneuve plans on adapting.
A Defense Of Dune
I was interested seeing Dune since I heard about the latest film adaptation, but a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the mostly negative reviews on this site caused me to forgo seeing it in theaters. Now, having rented the movie on YouTube, I found myself enjoying it more than I expected.
The film covers the first two thirds of the first Dune novel, stopping just after Paul wins his duel with Jamis and joins the Fremen(spoiler tags for those who haven't read the 50+ year old book). Initially, I was somewhat disappointed that the film was broken into parts, which often is little more than a ploy to milk multiple films out of a single book, but after seeing it, I realized that it would be difficult to adapt the book in a single film.
The movie generally adapts Dune well, as the creators realize that exposition must often be delivered differently in a movie than in a book, since without a narrator to explain things, Show, Don't Tell is a better tool for exposition. As someone who read the original Dune roughly 20 years ago, and found it a bit hard to follow at times, I found that the movie does a good job of explaining things to the viewers while neither being too obtuse nor overwhelming the viewer with information.
The characters are generally utilized well and the actors playing them give great performances. A few of them, such as Paul's eventual Love Interest Chani and Baron Harkonnen, don't get much screentime, albeit largely due to where the cutoff point is- Paul only just meets Chani at the end of the movie. One thing I found strange was Liet Kynes' Gender Flip, but the change, like many of the other small tweaks to character personalities, generally worked well in the context of the movie. For example, Jessica's more emotional reaction to Paul being subjected to the gom jabbar test- in which he must endure excruciating pain or die- helps humanize her.
The film benefits from breathtaking visual effects and set design, from the future technology bases to the planet of Arrakis. The sandworms, which are some of the most iconic creatures of the series, are portrayed quite well, and the Atreides' first encounter with one is a memorable and terrifying experience.
In short, I recommend seeing the movie to anyone who liked the books or science fiction fans in general. I personally enjoyed Dune, and look forward to seeing the second part, as well as any other Dune books Denis Villeneuve plans on adapting.